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The Enugu State Government has stated that its partnership with the Federal Government on cassava to bioethanol production was yielding the desired results.
The State's Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Mr. Patrick Ubru, made this known at Okpanku in Aninri Local Government Area when he conducted the Federal Government delegation on an inspection tour of cassava bioethanol projects in Aninri, Isi-Uzo and Udi local government areas of the state, during the weekend.
The delegation was drawn from the Federal Ministry of Budget, Economic and National Planning, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, and Prof Ken Ife, the promoter of Biosources and Technology Ltd., a private sector investor in cassava bioethanol production in the state
He told the delegation that the cultivation of over one thousand hectares of cassava farms in the three council areas started last year for the pilot phase of the cassava-bioethanol project.
He observed that prior to the clearing of the large expanses of land in the said local government areas, hoodlums and kidnappers had been using the forests as their operational bases and hideouts while terrorising the people. He disclosed that the state was set to commence the construction of over 20 kilometres of access roads to farmlands at Okpanku, adding that it had also made a 50 per cent payment for the construction of a 22-kilometre road from Ikem in Isi Uzo Council Area to the border with Benue State.
Ubru said the state government was partnering with the Federal Government to establish a military base in Isi Uzo, while it was also in the process of establishing the Agro Rangers, a security outfit that would ensure safety in the farmlands.
Addressing female cooperative farmers after inspecting the farms at Okpanku in Aninri, the leader of the Federal Government delegation, Mr Olaifa Fatai commended the state government for empowering women to participate in agriculture, encouraging them to take advantage of the support programmes from the state and Federal Governments. Fatai said the Federal Government was keen on producing ethanol to replace the fossil fuel, saying that what they had seen on ground justified the statistics they were given.
